Presenting Coffee Talk: a weekly roundtable led by the city's best doers curated by Presence Agency.

Every Wednesday at 1pm we'll be sipping Stumptown Coffee in the lobby while we chat with some of our favorite people in town about what they're doing.

Our installment on October 16th features Genevieve Weeks, Founder and CEO of Tutu School Franchises, a national collection of 34 boutique ballet schools for children. Genevieve will be with us talking about why you should always build your business to scale!

Genevieve Custer Weeks was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She received her early ballet training there, and took part in her first dance productions in the middle of her parents' living room.

At the age of fifteen, Genevieve moved to Chicago to study at the School of Ballet Chicago, and that same year became a founding member of the Ballet Chicago Studio Company. In addition, Genevieve supplemented her training with study at the San Francisco Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, and with Suzanne Farrell at The Kennedy Center.

A contract with the Oakland Ballet brought Genevieve to the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning in 2006, Genevieve began performing as a freelance artist, dancing principal and soloist roles throughout North America, and started dreaming of her opening own boutique school that would celebrate the things she loved most about ballet. During a break in her performance schedule, Genevieve's husband, Andrew, finally asked, "Why wait?" and Tutu School was born.

Since the founding of that first initial studio, Tutu School has grown into a collection of boutique ballet schools all over the country, and Genevieve – who retired from performing in 2012 – now divides her time between Tutu School and her life with Andrew, a photographer, and their three adorable sons.